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Get Breaking News on your cellEast Coast Pizza, Part I: Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn
1:22 PM Wed, Oct 17, 2007 | Permalink |
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It has become an annual ritual for me to visit New York at the beginning of October: The temperatures are typically still in the 60s and 70s (and early last week, it was in the low 80s) but autumn’s crackling vigor has permeated the city. I’m ravenous from the moment I step off the plane. So after a surprisingly traffic-free cab ride from LaGuardia to Brooklyn, my friend Christy and I headed to Grimaldi’s pizza on Fulton St. under the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s one of my favorite pizza spots in all of New York’s boroughs, but I also went for some perspective, since a branch of Grimaldi’s will be opening in the West Village (Dallas’, not New York’s) in about a month. An impatient line famously trails from Grimaldi’s door at most times of the day, but we didn’t get there until about 9:30 p.m. and thus breezed right in. It’s so scruffy New York in this place: faded prints of Frank Sinatra on the wall, tight tables with red and white checkered plastic coverings, patchy lighting. I ordered the same thing I request every time I come here: large pizza with extra mozzarella, oven-roasted red peppers and Italian sausage. No need to bother with an antipasto plate or an unexciting salad. This is a meal solely focused on the pie. We were seated in the very back of the restaurant, next to the kitchen, and I watched the main cook assemble our pizza. Of course it was the same fundamental layering of ingredients, but there was something particularly graceful and rhythmic about the way this guy did it: Another cook tossed him a stretched-out halo of dough, and he began by smearing a very simple-looking tomato sauce over the surface. A flicker of dried oregano and a scribble of olive oil came next. Then he lobbed on chunks of mozzarella, followed by an even toss of red pepper slivers. Finally, he took a glob of sausage from a mound on his workstation and, using his thumb, distributed even-sized bits all over the pizza. And into the coal-burning oven it went. A server flung it on our table minutes later. Good, good stuff: Even but light char on the crust; a collage of strong, harmonious flavors on top. But simple. It reminded me that often the key to excellence is mastering the art of simplicity ... particularly when it comes to pizza. FYI: The company opening the Grimaldi’s in Dallas is in part run by Joe Ciolli, the son of the owner of the Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn. Eric Greenwald, Ciolli’s partner, told me over the phone that their company plans to open 10 Grimaldi’s over time in Texas. They already have spots in Vegas and Phoenix. (These satellite locations have been called "Patsy Grimaldi's," but Greenwald tells me they'll all soon be going by the name "Grimaldi's.") Is the artful, simple touch of the original Grimaldi’s a trait that can be translated into multiple locations? We’ll find out soon. |
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Comments
Posted by Christopher @ 5:00 PM Wed, Oct 17, 2007
Bill, when I lived in Brooklyn the best pizza hands-down was from Pino's on 7th and 2nd in Park Slope. And at a $1.25 a slice, it was the best cheap meal in town.
Posted by Tim E @ 9:40 PM Wed, Oct 17, 2007
On a trip to NYC last year we had four New York coal-fired oven pizzas in five days. Yes, Grimaldi's pizza was great, but it was hard to enjoy it when we were feeling like sardines while seated packed into the middle of a row of tables. Our pie was mozzarella + oven roasted peppers, and you're right, the pizza assembly and "oven dance" was fascinating. We're hoping they can duplicate the pizza in Dallas without the squashed seating.
Posted by Bill Addison @ 9:49 PM Wed, Oct 17, 2007
So, Tim, where else did you try the coal-fired pizza in NYC? Did you get to Lombardi's? (That place can be cramped too if you don't score a booth.) What was your favorite?
Posted by Alfonso @ 9:34 AM Thu, Oct 18, 2007
Two of my faves are
Franny's in Bklyn & Luzzo in the East Village
Franny's is wood fired and Luzzo is coal
Posted by Tim E @ 9:53 AM Thu, Oct 18, 2007
Bill - Since your post said it was part one I was holding my other comments. But since you asked...
This was our first experience with coal-fired pizza (I think it was a Food Network show that cued us in). Our pizza pilgrimage also included Lombardi's, Patsy's, and John's on Bleeker Street. They were all very good, but if we have to choose, then our favorite was Lombardi's (and we did get a booth downstairs).
We wanted to make it out to Totonno's, but there wasn't enough time. We were seated next to the oven at John's, but it didn't seem like quite as much of a production as at Grimaldi's.
Posted by Bill Addison @ 10:46 AM Thu, Oct 18, 2007
Thanks for the comments, Tim. Glad you made it to Lombardi's, I love that place, too. And Alfonso, I also dig Franny's in Brooklyn -- they have a concise but fun wine list, too, if I remember correctly. Haven't been to Luzzo ... next time.
Posted by Campania Pizza @ 12:21 PM Thu, Oct 18, 2007
Check out the following link for some hot opinions on NY, CA and Italian pizzerias.
http://slice.seriouseats.com/jvpizza/
You have to fight through a very technical description of how to make the perfect pizza - but the pizzeria reviews are down on the bottom. There are some beautiful money shots of pizza though...